LEHIGH VALLEY (PA)
Lehigh Valley Live
October 21, 2018
By Express-Times opinion staff
The timing was probably coincidental.
Late Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate adjourned without acting on a bill to give adult victims of child sexual abuse their day in court.
On Thursday, the Associated Press broke the news that a U.S. attorney in Philadelphia has launched a federal investigation into the Catholic Church’s child abuse scandal, following up on a state grand jury report that ripped open long-held secrets.
The state investigation showed more than 1,000 children had been abused by 300-some priests in six dioceses, including Allentown. It detailed the lengths to which church authorities went to ignore or cover up the crimes.
Prosecutors in other states are opening investigations. The federal probe will examine the extent that children were exploited, determine whether federal laws were broken — and see whether efforts to hide evidence and subvert justice within the church rise to the level of racketeering.
This is a welcome follow-up to the grand jury findings. Have at it.
The state Senate, however, still doesn’t get it.
Instead of adopting a House-passed bill that would open a two-year window for older survivors to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions that protected them, the Senate punted. Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, offered a compromise — allowing adult victims a limited period to sue their abusers, but not the church. As an alternative, he supports a church-backed fund to make out-of-court settlements to victims.
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